Thursday, April 23, 2015

A girl takes over her twin sister's identity in this emotionally charged page-turner about the complicated bond between sisters.

Ella
and Maddy Lawton are identical twins. Ella has spent her high school
years living in popular Maddy's shadows, but she has never been envious
of Maddy. In fact, she's chosen the quiet, safe confines of her
sketchbook over the constant battle for attention that has defined
Maddy's world.

When—after a heated argument—Maddy and Ella get
into a tragic accident that leaves her sister dead, Ella wakes up in the
hospital surrounded by loved ones who believe she is Maddy. Feeling
responsible for Maddy's death and everyone's grief, Ella makes a
split-second decision to pretend to be Maddy. Soon, Ella realizes that
Maddy's life was full of secrets. Caught in a web of lies, Ella is faced
with two options—confess her deception or live her sister's life.

This should've been perfect. There was an interesting premise to catch my attention, but the lack of plot tore down a lot of my expectations. - Nova @ Out of Time

Sometimes, when you read a book, you can't get enough of it until a certain point. Before the point, it's like "oh my gosh, this book is amazing!" You see no faults with it, convinced it's going to be a five star review even though you haven't read halfway yet. And then there's this revelation when you start to see the fault and they come in massive numbers. This is what happened to me with this novel. I started out loving everything about it and a bit after halfway, I saw it for what it truly was, plotless. And after that, I just couldn't ignore the major flaw.

Most of the time, I spend time talking about the main character but honestly, I didn't feel much for Ella. Rather, I was blown away by Josh's personality. This guy had flaws and he had quirks. He was real. I felt how real he was by the way he walked and how he spoke. Ella, to be, was nothing special. She was real enough, but like a lot of characters, didn't make me feel any sort of emotional attachment. Josh did. In real life, I'm pretty much Ella, only, I'm not overshadowed by my sister. I'm just overshadowed by everyone else. And someone like me needed someone like Josh, which is why my feelings for him are so strong.

And now that I've gotten something positive out in the open, I'm about to tackle the major problem. There is no real plot. This book is so character driven and for someone like me, it hurts. In the summary, it's said that there's this big thing that Maddy did that Ella didn't know about. It isn't that big. After I finished, I was like... over that? I know, it must be a lot more drastic in the "book world" but the way things were written, I was expecting secrets on a much grander scale. That completely ruined the ending of the plot for me.

What fixed it was the development in Ella. It's obvious Leaver can write. I saw a change in Ella that made me happy. Ella was very cynical in the beginning, which I really understood. Her situation was something insanely difficult to write and done well. Can you imagine everyone thinking you were your sister if both of you got into an accident and only one survived? I know it would make me question my worth and drive me to the point of insanity. I'd question if I even mattered and that's exactly what happened to Ella. That part of the novel was very important to her development and made me feel.

However, something that bothered me on a smaller scale was Jenna. There's this character who is stereotypical "mean girl" and everyone insists that she has home problems but we never see a different side to her. She's completely one dimensional with everyone making excuses for her. Ugh. I couldn't deal with someone like that, especially since there was never a side to her story. Plus, she was a walking stereotype with no original personality. Ella already had so much to deal with; in my opinion, Jenna was irrelevant.

Overall, I found this book to be enjoyable and there's such a strong message about sisters in it. Considering I have a sister, I was able to connect to it too. I don't regret reading it because there were aspects I liked, but I probably wouldn't read it again because I know I would be far more critical during the second time.

Trisha
Leaver lives on Cape Cod with her husband, three children, and one
rather irreverent black lab. She is a chronic daydreamer who prefers
the cozy confines of her own imagination to the mundane routine of
everyday life. She writes Young Adult Contemporary fiction,
Psychological Horror and Science Fiction and is published with FSG/
Macmillan, Flux/Llewellyn and Merit Press.

8 comments:

Oh, what a shame about the no-plot thing! I've had my eye on this one for awhile, and I'm still quite interested in reading it--I especially love the sound of Josh. Real character FTW--if I can find a copy somewhere. Even though I haven't read this I SO get what you mean about the whole 'mean girl' thing. I feel like that trope (for want of a better term) is used so much in YA. We see the cruel, bitchy side of someone but their character is never really explored enough for us to really understand them. Which is frustrating! Great review. Like I said I'll probably still read this, but I might have to lower my expectations. ^_^

Really great review!It's a shame you didn't enjoy this one as much as you wanted to. I've had my eyes on this one for a while, because it sounds just like something I would like. However, it helped to read your review - I like to read semi-negative reviews sometimes, because it helps me to see whether or not I would really enjoy the book and if I want to buy it. Maybe i'll just check this one out from the library - still really intrigued by the premise. And Josh sounds great - plus there's a strong message about sisters? I will most likely be able to relate, since I have a little sister. Enjoyed hearing your thoughts on this one!

I really wanted to love this book as well, the cover and premise are just amazing. I thought this was a more character driven book as well with very little plot. The actual secrets Maddie had wasn't that bad you know? I did like Ella's character growth though. Fantastic review.

I hate it when that happens D: When you're like: OH YES this is gonna be a favourite I KNOW IT. And then flop. It turns out NOT to be a favourite. It upsets me SO MUCH. Favourites are so hard to come by, and that hurts me.

I have been keen for this book for THE LONGEST time, and it's kind of sad to learnt that it's ... not so great. I'm still pretty interested because I love character driven novels, character development, and real characters - so I'm pretty sure I'd like these aspects of this book.

But no plot can be a deal breaker for me sometimes. And a secret that isn't so big? I was expecting something HUGE from that synopsis.

Share your thoughts! I'm always looking for insight from other readers because hey - your opinion matters! Also, if no one's told you yet, I just want to say that I love your smile and that you should grace all of us with it.

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About Me

nova lee zaiden has spent five years in prison for hacking the pentagon. she's discovered top government secrets and the knowledge could kill her. after escaping, she now hides undercover at local high school in hopes of survival.
if all goes well, she leaves unscathed. if not, she and the cute boy in her math class will have to go on the run. it doesn't help that said boy is the son of the man who wants her dead. they'll have to fight against all odds to expose shocking secrets while resisting their own fatal attraction...
however, since nothing like that has happened yet, you can find nova in her room reading YA books, drinking tea and writing about her fangirl feels.